Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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76. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the contacts he has had with the Northern authorities in relation to prison conditions for separated prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37956/14]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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My question concerns conditions in Maghaberry Prison, with particular reference to the separated prisoners who are held there. Will the Minister comment on the need to ensure the 2010 agreement, a review of which is ongoing, is implemented in full? What contacts has he had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on this issue and in regard to the five prisoners currently being held in the facility's isolation unit?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. Since the devolution of policing and justice in 2010, policing, prisons and overall criminal justice policy in Northern Ireland have been the responsibility of the Minister of Justice, David Ford, MLA. The Government has an ongoing engagement with the Minister, Mr. Ford, on a wide range of security and political issues, including most recently, on 1 October, when my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, and Mr. Ford addressed the 12th annual organised crime seminar in Belfast. I spoke with Mr. Ford on Sunday, 28 September by telephone.

Since 2010, in addition to strengthening Garda-PSNI co-operation, a primary focus of the Government is to ensure the justice systems in place are robust and remain consistent with the principles and values of the Good Friday Agreement and the other agreements of which we are co-guarantors. In this context, my Department maintains an ongoing interest in the humanitarian aspects of prison conditions in Northern Ireland and engages as appropriate with the relevant authorities. A central aspect of our engagement is our absolute support for the men and women of the PSNI and the Northern Ireland Prison Service in their work to support the rule of law and a new beginning for justice in the North. I reiterate previous condemnations in this House of the unacceptable threats to members of the prison service and the PSNI from enemies of the peace process and call, once again, for such threats to be lifted with immediate effect.

As an executive agency of the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, the Northern Ireland Prison Service implements prison policy in that jurisdiction. A Prisoner Ombudsman is also appointed by the Minister, Mr. Ford, and operates entirely independently of the prison service. The ombudsman, Mr. Tom McGonigle, and his team investigate complaints from prisoners and visitors regarding prisons and prison conditions in Northern Ireland.

Since taking office, I have had regular and comprehensive discussions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, MP, on these specific issues.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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We all agree we want to see the system working and it is important that humane conditions are in place to ensure and show that the system can work and feed into that process. The Northern Ireland Minister, Mr. David Ford, does not have the final say about the prisoners in the care and supervision unit. In fact, the Secretary of State, Ms Theresa Villiers, is using a so-called threat against the lives of these prisoners as a way to keep those prisoners isolated, and in a way whereby they can be accessible to MI5 in order that it can attempt to get information from them. The other prisoners in the prison have said there is no threat against these prisoners but the Secretary of State continues to use that as a reason to keep them separated. The conditions in which they are being housed are not humane and it is not conducive to building a proper peace process. Will the Minister use his office to talk to the Secretary of State to have those conditions eased, at the very least, for those prisoners?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I would be happy to keep a close eye on matters and to continue to engage with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the issue. I assure the Deputy that my officials at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat engage very carefully in ongoing monitoring of prison issues, including prisoner conditions, and discuss them regularly with their counterparts. We all have a duty to use language responsibly in regard to these sensitive matters and to avoid giving any succour to dissident groups by our public statements in regard to them. I again deplore the continuing threats made against prison officers in Maghaberry Prison by so-called dissident republicans. The prison officers have a right to live their lives free from threat from faceless criminals.

I understand what the Deputy has said and assure him of my continuing engagement and that of the Taoiseach to whom I understand he addressed some correspondence in the not too distant past.